February 03, 2011

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Madeleine Albright (left) and Tom Ridge were honored for their public service at an event where Bill Gates also joined in on a discussion of foreign assistance.

Concerned that the foreign aid budget could be cut as Congress deals with a mounting fiscal crisis, influential voices from government and philanthropy are calling attention to the benefits of – and need for – "smart power."

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Wednesday stressed the importance of foreign assistance at the annual U.S. Global Leadership Coalition Tribute Dinner. Each brought attention to the connections between foreign aid, economic prosperity, and national security, saying that investing in diplomacy and aid creates “a better, safer world.”

“The truth is that we won’t be able to rely on other countries to help fight the extraordinary dangers that most threaten us unless we help the global majority to fight the chronic problems that can frighten them each and every day,” Albright said, making one of several references to the Middle East that later included a discussion of Egypt.

Pointing to a “battle of ideas with dictators and demagogues,” Albright added, “We have to push back, but we won’t be able to do that if at the same time we’re cutting back on embassies, cutting back on public diplomacy, cutting back on student exchanges, cutting back on assistance and severing our connections to the world. “

Both Ridge and Gates combined their talking points on diplomacy and development with direct calls to action.

“We have to convince the men and women up on the Hill that if we’re going to advance our interest around the globe, well, we certainly need a strong military, but we can’t rely simply on a military strategy,” Ridge said. “We need smart power.”

Gates emphasized the cost effectiveness of the aid budget, saying that “the 1 percent we spend on aid for the poorest not only saves millions of lives, it also has an enormous impact on developing economies, which means it has an impact on our economy.“

Gates, whose foundation has invested billions in a wide range of public health projects in the developing world, said: “If we take people off AIDS treatment, they will die. If we fail to replace bed nets when they wear out, children will get sick and die. If we pull back from the goal of polio eradication, we will lose the only chance we’ve ever had to eliminate this scourge from the earth.”

The Microsoft founder conceded that foreign assistance does not come without flaws. “We need to continuously monitor, evaluate and improve our aid,” he said. “We need to be relentless, not just about rooting out fraud but also about measuring results, understanding what works and what doesn’t, and squeezing more out of every dollar.”

Egypt served as a strong selling point to protect foreign aid spending as the new GOP House majority takes up next year's budget legislation.

“We have failed to recognize the long-term positive impact of addressing humanitarian and social concerns before political crises occur,” Ridge said by way of warning and in a not-so-veiled reference to events in Egypt.

Albright said the United States cannot dictate outcomes in countries such as Egypt, but acknowledged that “we are in a far better position than we might have been had we not raised our voice at key moments on behalf of democratic reform and human rights.”